25 Insanely Ridiculous Extinct Creatures

Millions of species have come in and out of existence without us even knowing. Most people are familiar with the most commonly talked about, the dinosaurs, but here we bring you some lesser-known but absolutely ridiculous (and sometimes terrifying) creatures to have walked the Earth. Check out our list of 25 insanely ridiculous extinct creatures.

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25

Passenger Pigeon

Passenger pigeons (not to be confused with carrier pigeons) were until recently the most abundant bird in the world. Martha, the last one, died in the Cincinatti Zoo in 1914. The birds were said to be so plentiful, Canadians in Ontario reported a flock in 1866 that was 1 mile (1.5km) wide, 300 miles (500kms) long, and took 14 hours to fly by. They estimated there to be over 3.5 billion birds in that flock alone.

24

Platybelodon

Nicknamed the shovel tusker, this creature was a relative of the elephant. Rather than having a trunk, it sported what looks like a large duck’s bill. It’s believed they used this structure to pull bark off trees and pull branches down.

23

Diprotodon Optatum

This marsupial, the largest known to have existed, looked like a saggy-skin wombat. It roamed most of Australia up to 25,000 years ago when it lived with the first indigenous people.

22

Poop-eating snail

However weird this snail sounds, it never went hungry regardless of the era, with a plentiful supply of other animals’ feces.

21

Woolly Mammoth

Beyond just a character from Ice Age, woolly mammoths roamed the Northern Hemisphere’s frozen tundras and played a key role, dropping their, well, droppings wherever they went, which fertilized the land. Since their carcasses were largely frozen, their DNA is in quite good condition for potential cloning.